Shenmue Dojo

The PS4 Physical Copy Issue & the $10 Million Goal Struggle

The PS4 Physical Copy Issue & the $10 Million Goal Struggle

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 9:24 pm

by sand4fish

There are a lot of fans out there who are holding themselves from pledging more because of the lack of a PS4 physical copy as reward. We all know for certain that the PS4 physical copy will be coming out albeit only at retail, and not as a reward tier. How do I know that for sure? Actually I don't. But I do know they are not going to be offered throughout the campaign, so not a thing can be done about that.

Wouldn't Yu Suzuki already have done it by now if he could, instead of offering leather jackets?

But you know what else is not a certainty? This game overall quality! I don't want to tell you what to do with your own money, but I want to try reasoning and appealing to you because you are fans. Would you really prefer a plastic disc over having the power to make this the best game ever? I never wanted Shenmue 3 go the Kickstarter route to begin with but now that the game is a reality, our hands are tied and we must make the best out of it. Getting a quality budget is an issue for Yu Suzuki (otherwise he wouldn't have waited 14 years), so I have no choice but abide and donate whatever I can, even at the cost of being exploited by giants like Sony. After all, the stretch goals are to add the extra immersion to the game, fulfilling Yu Suzuki's original vision and Sony could care less for those because the company can't gauge their effectiveness at getting people to buy the game at retail price. No one here wants to play Shenmue 3 version 0.1 right?

Excerpts from an interview with Yu Suzuki in this week's Famitsu:

“That said, 200 million yen is the minimum required amount in order to make the game. If we happen to collect more funds, then we’ll add more things that we’ve been wanting to add to it.”

Famitsu then ask what kind of open world one can expect to see in Shenmue III.

“Everyone must be thinking that we’ll expand the open world more, but I’ve been deeply questioning whether or not to do that instead,” says Suzuki. “If we were to have 100 characters and split the budget among them, we’d be limited in terms of what we could do with each one; however, if we were to split that budget among just 10 characters, we could do a lot more with them.”

He continues, “For example, we could set a parameter for Ling Shen Hua, then we could have it change her attitude depending on the conversations, or the way one proceeds through quests. Of course, that doesn’t mean that it won’t be an open world game. A stretch goal on Kickstarter will determine the expansion of the city.”

Re: PS4 Physical Copy Issue

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 9:31 pm

by MiTT3NZ

Gamers... Ugh... I've never understood the need to have a physical copy of a game. I wonder if any of those refusing to pledge because of it have ever purchased a game on the App Store...

Re: PS4 Physical Copy Issue

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 9:40 pm

by Sonoshee

MiTT3NZ wrote:Gamers... Ugh... I've never understood the need to have a physical copy of a game. I wonder if any of those refusing to pledge because of it have ever purchased a game on the App Store...

^ This, really. I don't think people really understand what a donation drive is all about. They shouldn't really have offered the game at all in the rewards. We want people to donate because it's Shenmue 3. Not because they are worried about what they are or are not getting with their pledges. It seems so trivial to me.

Re: PS4 Physical Copy Issue

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 9:42 pm

by sand4fish

MiTT3NZ wrote:Gamers... Ugh... I've never understood the need to have a physical copy of a game. I wonder if any of those refusing to pledge because of it have ever purchased a game on the App Store...

The thing is there's a physical copy available (PC) as a choice!!! Are we Shenmue fans or Sony fans?

Should I request Yu Suzuki to stall the campaign and make him deal with Sega to get them to make a Dreamcast version (with Shenmue 1 & 2 assets to boot)? Because that was the one version I really wanted!

Re: PS4 Physical Copy Issue

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 9:52 pm

by MiTT3NZ

There's always a chance of it being released as a physical disc when it hits further milestones/stretch goals. Blu-Ray's more expensive than a DVD. Someone'll probably see the potential n snap up the distribution rights. If anything, that's the ideal scenario.

Re: PS4 Physical Copy Issue

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 9:56 pm

by Raithos

Man, two people with yellow text now is weird.

Re: PS4 Physical Copy Issue

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 9:59 pm

by sand4fish

MiTT3NZ wrote:There's always a chance of it being released as a physical disc when it hits further milestones/stretch goals. Blu-Ray's more expensive than a DVD. Someone'll probably see the potential n snap up the distribution rights. If anything, that's the ideal scenario.

I wouldn't want it, as it would mean sacrificing other stretch goals that involve in-game improvements. And it was stated by the team already that PS4 physical copies wouldn't be given as rewards. There're no denials of their existence, but I strongly believe Sony has plans for them to be retail products.

Re: PS4 Physical Copy Issue

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 10:02 pm

by MiTT3NZ

I never understood why no one else used it, I reckon it goes well against the background. Should be the default colour.

Re: PS4 Physical Copy Issue

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 10:02 pm

by shendude

MiTT3NZ wrote:Gamers... Ugh... I've never understood the need to have a physical copy of a game. I wonder if any of those refusing to pledge because of it have ever purchased a game on the App Store...

I'm not going to spend money for a few gigs of files I have to download, and I have never paid for any app for my phone. That being said, I'm not one of the people you're talking about. I pledged my $300 hours after it was announced.

Re: PS4 Physical Copy Issue

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 10:19 pm

by sand4fish

shendude wrote:

MiTT3NZ wrote:Gamers... Ugh... I've never understood the need to have a physical copy of a game. I wonder if any of those refusing to pledge because of it have ever purchased a game on the App Store...

I'm not going to spend money for a few gigs of files I have to download, and I have never paid for any app for my phone. That being said, I'm not one of the people you're talking about. I pledged my $300 hours after it was announced.

But you see, I don't believe that's the right mentality when it comes to Kickstarter. You are not buying anything. It's a donation, whatever physical reward you might receive in the end can be treated as thank you card. Otherwise you 'd be saying that people who pledged $29 and below are simply suckers for not receiving anything physical in return. The reward tiers are very alluring, but they are just there as an incentive to give more money away to increase Yu Suzuki's budget.

Re: PS4 Physical Copy Issue

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 10:22 pm

by Axm

Well said Sand. We probably do have alot of people out there who arent the most die hard fans, who would want a physical release over anything else vs. quality of the actual game. Thats a shame. But all we can do is keep that message going around that obviously a better game vs. plastic disc is the choice people should be making.

sand4fish wrote:

shendude wrote:

MiTT3NZ wrote:Gamers... Ugh... I've never understood the need to have a physical copy of a game. I wonder if any of those refusing to pledge because of it have ever purchased a game on the App Store...

I'm not going to spend money for a few gigs of files I have to download, and I have never paid for any app for my phone. That being said, I'm not one of the people you're talking about. I pledged my $300 hours after it was announced.

But you see, I don't believe that's the right mentality when it comes to Kickstarter. You are not buying anything. It's a donation, whatever physical reward you might receive in the end can be treated as thank you card. Otherwise you 'd be saying that people who pledged $29 and below are simply suckers for not receiving anything physical in return. The reward tiers are very alluring, but they are just there as an incentive to give more money away to increase Yu Suzuki's budget.

I think its abit of both sides though imo. Yes we are making a purchase of a product(s) and yes we are supporting the project. Best of both worlds. Thats why I really love the idea of kickstarter more and more when I think about it. Ya Sony bankrolling the project would have been better, but they are not, so we definitely have both a product purchase and development support at the same time. The ideal kickstarter scenario.

Re: PS4 Physical Copy Issue

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 10:44 pm

by alexh86

MiTT3NZ wrote:Gamers... Ugh... I've never understood the need to have a physical copy of a game. I wonder if any of those refusing to pledge because of it have ever purchased a game on the App Store...

You still have, love and enjoy Shenmue I and II, right? Don't you want to be able to enjoy Shenmue III at some point in the future after it leaves Sony's servers? Or are you fine never playing the game again? I have still supported the Kickstarter and will happily buy the physical game again at retail but there are very legitimate reasons that we should demand a physical console release.

Re: PS4 Physical Copy Issue

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 10:51 pm

by Raithos

MiTT3NZ wrote:I never understood why no one else used it, I reckon it goes well against the background. Should be the default colour.

I do wish the default was something other than grey. Not hard to read, it just not high enough contrast. Blends together a bit when I'm stoned .

Re: PS4 Physical Copy Issue

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 11:01 pm

by sand4fish

alexh86 wrote:

MiTT3NZ wrote:Gamers... Ugh... I've never understood the need to have a physical copy of a game. I wonder if any of those refusing to pledge because of it have ever purchased a game on the App Store...

You still have, love and enjoy Shenmue I and II, right? Don't you want to be able to enjoy Shenmue III at some point in the future after it leaves Sony's servers? Or are you fine never playing the game again? I have still supported the Kickstarter and will happily buy the physical game again at retail but there are very legitimate reasons that we should demand a physical console release.

What about the PC physical copy? Why such a disdain for PC games? Anyone can explain that to me?

Axm wrote:I think its abit of both sides though imo. Yes we are making a purchase of a product(s) and yes we are supporting the project. Best of both worlds. Thats why I really love the idea of kickstarter more and more when I think about it. Ya Sony bankrolling the project would have been better, but they are not, so we definitely have both a product purchase and development support at the same time. The ideal kickstarter scenario.

You are right. Thinking better, maybe I should think all of this as an extravagant pre-order. There's no perfect world where people would just shell out big bucks for their favorite developer just out of love, and not requiring anything in return.

Re: PS4 Physical Copy Issue

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 11:03 pm

by MiTT3NZ

In this day n age, that argument is extremely invalid. Do people really believe that there will be a point in their lives when it's impossible to retrieve a DD game that they've purchased? If won't happen. And let's say for instance worst comes to worst and it actually is removed from all servers... Why did you delete it? Why did you not make a backup? And more importantly, why don't you just head on over to the Pirate Bay?

Sorry, but I really don't buy the whole "physical copies will outlast digital" thing. Discs get scratched, lost, stolen, left in direct sunlight. Barring an extremely unfortunate - and so unlikely it borders on the impossible - string of events, digital is bulletproof in that regard. And do you really think the game would get pulled without notice?

C'mon pal, a bit of common sense doesn't hurt anyone. Except maybe feelings. But that's usually because you didn't use it yourself in the first place.